Taking place in a dystopian future of the DC universe, ‘Rotworld’ will cross Animal Man, written by Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth) with artwork by Steve Pugh, and Swamp Thing, written by Scott Snyder (Batman) with artwork by Yanick Paquette (Batman Incoporated, vol 1), this October, beginning with issue 13 of the aforementioned titles – although its true origin lies in the zero issues. The annuals may prove useful also according to Kate Stewart, DC’s Assistant Editor.
Matt Kindt’s (Mind MGMT) Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. will also tie-in.
The Rot has won. And according to Snyder, very few “of your favourite heroes and villains survived the Rot’s invasion…this is the whole DCuN, but rotten”. Expect a thriving Poison Ivy then. And Constantine – he’s always there or thereabouts. The cover of issue 13 displays what has happened to those that have succumbed to the Rot – bad luck Hawkman.
Each book will have distinct narrative threads. As the story beings Buddy and Alec are stuck, one year in the future, where the Rot has won and the world is devastated. However, the story will also follow Maxine and Ellen in Swamp Thing and Abby in Animal Man in the present day, where we see the Rot’s advance.
‘Rotworld’ begins this October in Swamp Thing #13 and Animal Man #13.
Mark Brassington 
Animal Man is the best New 52 series (along with Team 7).
What makes Animal Man so special is the way Lemire deconstructs the superhero mythology. For example:
1) Superheroes tend to monopolize the attention of the reader, while Animal Man is constantly upstaged by the supporting characters of the series.
2) Superhero comics usually don’t give much importance to the private life of their main character (they tend to focus only on the “costume on” part); in Animal Man, on the contrary, the private life of Buddy is the main theme of the series. In fact, it is rather infrequent to see Buddy with his costume on.
3) Buddy is not perfect, and is not perceived as perfect by other people: in fact, in the 11th issue, when he tells his wife “It’s going to be okay”, she replies “Don’t give me anything of that superhero crap, Buddy.” That cut and thrust perfectly enlightens the philosophy of the series.
I agree.
Lemire’s work on Animal Man is definitely one of the breakout hits of DC’s New 52. Giving him a title and telling him to run with it was a great idea. And with Lemire stating in an interview “there’s going to be huge status quo shift for both series” I can’t wait to see what fruit the story bears.
Me too. Thank you for your reply! : )